Cutting apparatus for mowers and the like



April]! 23, B935. P. KANE CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MOWERS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 23, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet -l April 23, 1193.. P. KANE 1,999,050

CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MOWERS AND THE LIKE 7 Filed Dec. 23, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 23, 1935 CUTTING APPARATUS FUR MoWEns AND 'rnr: LliKlE Paul Kane, Brussels, Belgium, assignor tolnternational Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application December 23, 1933, Serial No. 703,739 In Germany February 28, 1933 6 Claims.

The invention relates to wearing and cleaning plates proi ided on cutter bars of inowing and like machines, which are disposed between the knife clip and the'k'nife and are attached to the knife to partake of its to and fro reciprocatory movement, and which serve to prevent the clip from wearing on the knife sections and further serve to clean out grass and trash from underheath the knife-clip.

Arrangements of this kind are known wherein a plate is provided under each knife-clip and is permanently attached to the knife by rivets or the like, but the presence of such fixed plates on the knife is objectionable in that the operation of removing the knife from the guards or fingers for the purpose of sharpening is rendered diiiicult and, moreover, the sections on which the plates are mounted cannot be readily grbu'nd or otherwise sharpened.

Arrangements are also known wherein the plates are detachably secured to the knife, either loosely arranged thereon or secured thereto by means of spring clips, hinges or the like. Such arrangements, however, have the common drawback that grass and trash enter "under the edges of the plate and especially the front edge during work and force it up against the knife clip, thereby interfering with the free working of the knife. Furthermore, the provision of spring clips, hinge pivots and the like on the knife sections is objectionable in that they rapidly becon'ie rusted and break off during work and mate rially add to the cost or manufacture of the knife bars.

It is the object of the present invention, therefore, to overcome these difficulties by providing a wearing and cleaning plate of the kind in question which, while mainly detachable from the knife so as not to interfere with its ready removal from the guards, nor to interfere with the proper sharpening of the sections, yet is provided with a part permanently attached to the knife to which the detachable part may be amxed, so as to afford a means for holding the detachable part securely and positively on the knife sections on which it lies. i

The object is achieved according to the invention by constructing the plate in two separate units, one secured to the knife section by rivets or the like (hereafter called'the fixed unit), and the other detachably securedto said fixed unit.

By such an arrangement the dimensions of each unit may be suitably chosen so that the fixed part falls within the boundaries of the knife section and does not, therefore, interfere with the ready removal of the knife from the guards as'required, nor prevent the grinding or shapening of the knife section by the means ordinarily employed for this purpose. The detachable unit is preferably of such dimensions to overlap the section at the sides, so that, upon each stroke of the knife in either direction, it will clean trash from under the knife-clip, and it extends far enough forwardly so as to reach to the nose of the knife-clip or beyond the same. Moreover, the two units are provided with cooperating undercut and overlappin portions to form a locking means to hold the front or rear edge of the detachable unit of the plate against the knife sections in a positive manner.

The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings wherein various Ways of arranging the cooperating locking parts are shown, as follows: 1

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a portion of a cutter bar provided with a preferred form of the improved wear and cleaning plate; 7

Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view through the cutter bar, knife, and wear plate shown in Figure l, the clip and guard not being shown in section;

Figures 3 and 4 are respectively plan and crosssectional detail views of the'preferred form of wear and cleaning plate shown in Figures 1 and 2, but on an enlarged scale;

Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figures 3 and e in that they are respectively plan and sectional views, but showing a modified form of locking the removable part to the fixed part of the plate; and,

Figures 7 and 8 are respectively plan and sectional views of another modified form of looking or latching the removable part to the fixed part of the plate.

In these figures, the cutter bar is indicated by the numeral l and it carries the usual guards or fingers 2, which are secured thereon by means of bolts 8. In the channel or groove 4 formed in the fingers rests the reciprocating knife-back 5, on which the knife sections 5 are fastened by means of rivets l. Spaced at suitable intervals along the bar are the knife-clips 8, the under side of which overlies the knife sections 6. The wear and cleaning plate 55 forming the subject of this invention is provided under each knifeclip 8, and its construction according to the method used to hold it securely on the knife section will now be described.

In the form shown in Figures 3 and 4, the plate 9 is constructed of two units or parts A and B, fitting one within the other, as shown, and forming a fiat relatively narrow rectangular plate, as shown. The unit or part A is secured to the knife-back 5 by means of rivets or the like C. The unit or part B is formed with a cut-away portion having a superficial area equal to the unit A. On the front edge D of the part A, there is formed a bevel which cooperates with a similar bevel E formed on the corresponding edge in the cut-away portion of part B. The corresponding edges at the rear of the partslarecut square, as shown. In this manner the unit A of the plate forms a fixed member on the knifeback 5 and the section 6, while the unit Bis detachably secured to the said unit A. When attaching unit B to unit A, the bevel E provided on the former is first slid under the beveled portion D on unit A so that these beveled edges cooperate and the rear portion of unit B is then lowered until it rests flat on the knife section.

As may be seen, the unit A is of relatively small dimensions and falls within the boundaries of the section 6, while the unit B is of such dimensions that it extends forwardly as far as the front edge of the knife-clip while it extends laterally beyond the knife section at each side. The overlapping edge D on the fixed unit A forms a latch for holding the unit B securely to the knife section so that it cannot rise therefrom. The rear part is, of course, held down by the knife-clip 8 during work. i V

In this manner the whole plate is secured to the knife section while the unit B may be readily detached when it is desired to sharpen the sections since the whole of the cutting edge of the section 6 is uncovered when the unit B is removed. 7

When removing the whole knife from the guards or fingers 2, it is slid, in well known manner, in said guards by pulling on the usual knife head (not shown) provided at the end of the knife-back 5. As soon as the knife is slid far enough so that the plates 9 are clear of the clips 8, the units B of the plates may be removed, thus facilitating the further removal of the knife from the guards, and the knife is then ready for sharpening.

The total length'of the plate 9 is preferably chosen so that at each stroke of the knife in either direction the extreme end of the plate comes under the center or just beyond the center of the knife-clip. In Figure 1 the position of the plate at the end of the stroke of the knife to theright is indicated in dotted lines. 7

Figures 5 and 6 correspond to Figures 3 and 4, respectively, but the cooperating beveled portions D, E on the units A and B of the plate are shown at the rear instead of at the front edges.

Figures '7 and 8 show arrangements corresponding' to Figures 3 and 4, respectively, but in this case the beveled portions D and E of the units A and B and the cut-away portion of unit B, but only along a portion of said edges as indicated at F in Figure '7.

From the above disclosure it will now be ap parent that an improved two part wear and cleaner plate is provided which can easily be associated with standard cutting apparatus. Assembly and disassembly of such plate is obviously a simple matter, as the part A of said plate is permanently secured to the knife-hack 5, there being one of such parts A at spaced intervals along the knife-back normally coincident with each knife-clip 8. The removable part B of the plate structure 9 is, by the simple latching means provided, easily snapped onto or off from the fixed part A by means of the bevel joint connections provided. Such readily detachable connection of, the part B to the part A in practice may obviously assume many forms, and it is to be understood. that the forms herein shown are merely illustrative. It is, therefore, the intention to cover here-- in all such changes and modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

vl. In a cutting apparatus, a bar, guards connected to the bar, a knife-clip for certain of the guards also connected to the bar, a knife-back carrying knives thereabove and reciprocable through the guards, and a wear and cleaning plate structure carried by the knife-back adjacent a knife and cooperating. with the clips and movable thereunder, said plate structure comprising a portion permanently secured to the knife-back and having a flat horizontal upper surface, said structure further including a detachable portion,

also provided with a flat upper surface lying in the same horizontal plane with the aforementioned portion,

2. In a cutting apparatus, a bar, guards connected to the bar, a knife-clip for certain of the guards also connected to the bar, a knife-back carrying knives thereabove and reciprocable through theguards, a wear and cleaning plate carried by the knife-back adjacent a knife and cooperating with the clips and movable thereunder, said plate comprising a substantially rectangular portion fixed to the knife-back, and a sub stantially'rectangular portion embracing the fixed portion and detachably connected thereto, said two portions having flat top surfaces lying inthe same'horizontal plane. g

3. In a cutting apparatus, a bar, guards connected to the bar, a knife-clip for certain of the guards also connected to the bar, 'a'knife-back carrying knives thereabove and reciprocable through the guards, a wear and cleaning plate carried by the knife-back adjacent a knife and cooperating with the clips and movable thereunder, said plate comprising a portion permanently secured to the knife-back and a detachable portion, the latter portion having an opening to fit over and receive the permanently secured portion, and a connecting joint between said portions to enable removal of the detachable portion, said two portions embodying fiat upper surfaces lying in substantially the same horizontal plane.

4. A cutting apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized by the fact that the permanently secured portion is of such dimensions as to fall within the edges of the rear portion of the adjacent knife, while the detachable portion extends laterally beyond the edges of the section and extends forwardly as far as, or beyond the nose of the knife-clip.

5. In a cutting apparatus, a bar, guards attached to the bar, a knife-clip for one of the guards also attached to the bar, a knife-back carrying knife sections thereabove and reciprocable therewith through the guards and under the clip, a wear and cleaning plate structure associated with a knife section and cooperating with the clip, said structure comprising a portion secured to the back above the knife section and another portion having a snap fit detachable connection with the first portion to be bodily detachable therefrom, said two portions having flat top surfaces lying in the same horizontal plane and adapted to move with the back and knife closely under said clip.

6. In a cutting apparatus, a bar, guards attached to the bar, a knife-clip for one of the guards also attached to the oar, a knife-back carrying knife sections thereabove and reciprocable therewith through the guards and under the clip, a wear and cleaning plate structure associated with a knife section and cooperating with the clip, said structure comprising a portion secured to the back above the knife section and another portion larger than the first portion and formed with a hole to fit over the first portion to surround the same, means forming a snap fit connection between said portions whereby the large portion is detachably connected to the first portion for ready bodily detachment therefrom, said portions when connected presenting flush top sur-- faces lying in the same horizontal plane and adapted to move with the back and knife closely under said clip.

PAUL KANE. 

